


Chef d'Oeuvre

by orphan_account



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Agender Character, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Implied Pairing, M/M, Massage, Masturbation, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other pairings to be added, Sibling Incest, everybody is an artist, incubus au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-16 00:29:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2249169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kili and Fili get used to living with their very own muse<br/>mostly slice of life things</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thorinsmut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Incubus Dreams](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1851679) by [Thorinsmut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsmut/pseuds/Thorinsmut). 



> hello and welcome to another episode of "Tag can't resist writing stuff inspired by Thorinsmut's awesome stories".  
> Welcome also to "why do I keep writing Fili/Kili stuff when I'm supposed to not be into that" (it's pretty light in this first chapter, but it should go up in the future)  
> (yes this is a multichapter apparently)  
> (as in I have half of another chapter written already)  
> (why do I do this to myself)  
> (I don't need another wip)  
> (but welp that's life can't fight inspiration)  
> (although I do wish I had a muse of my own to help me now XD)

Kili was sitting on his bed, fumbling with the button of his jean, and trying to ignore Ori’s presence. The muse was sitting on a chair, near enough to touch Kili's ancle and profit from the sexual energy to come, far enough to make it clear that they did not intend to participate. It should have been odd, knowing that someone was going to watch him jerk off. Kili _did_ find it odd, in fact. He also found it more exciting that he would have expected, the idea of someone watching… somehow, it reminded him of the couple times when he’d found Dwalin and Nori at various stages of fucking, and that made him feel a little dirty. Maybe he was some sort of pervert then, or…

“We don’t have to do that you know,” Ori said calmly. “If you’re too nervous to enjoy yourself, it’s pointless. And if you’re uncomfortable, I’ve told you that I can go to other people to get this, or see with your brother, so…”

“But it’s easier for you if you can get energy from us,” Kili protested, and at last his button popped free. “And I don’t mind, it’s just… weird. I’ve never really done that before. Not without someone who wasn’t also doing something, I mean. Or that I wouldn’t be touching after.”

“I don’t…”

“I know,” Kili mumbled, fidgeting with the hem of his trousers, not finding the courage to take them off yet. “I know, and that’s okay, but it’s still… I’ve never done that, and I don’t know… the _etiquette_ of it, you know? Like, am I allowed to look at you, or even think of you, or should I do it thinking of someone else… What’s the best for you?”

Ori did not answer immediately, and Kili risked a glance at them. The muse looked deep in thought, the way they did when they were looking at one of their picture. They were very handsome like that, and Kili felt a pang of desire in spite of his nervosity. Ori must have felt it, because their eyes focused again, on Kili. Beautiful, strange eyes, that Kili had tried to paint a few times. He’d never shown these attempts to Ori yet, nor even to Fili. He wouldn’t, not until he’d really captured the right colour… maybe he’d need to make a gif of some sort or a video, because nothing unmoving could really be like the muse’s eyes.

“I don’t mind if you think of me,” Ori said. “I think it’s flattering actually. And I certainly don’t mind that you look at me. If you want, I can even look like someone else… if there’s anyone you have a crush on, or a celebrity… I can be anyone you like.”

There wasn’t really anyone Kili could think of that he might want to see more than Ori, except maybe... But neither was very smart of him, he knew. He’d have to think of other people at some point, or else he’d be up for a life of lonely wanks in front of someone who wasn’t really interested, dreaming of people he shouldn’t want.

It _should_ have sounded like a bad thing, but instead Kili felt his cock harden at the thought, and Ori let out a little gasp.

“Found someone you’d like me to be then?”

“Yeah, no. I’ll just… let’s keep you as yourself for now?” Kili asked. “Or, well. As the self you seem to like looking like?”

Ori smiled at that, and nodded.

Two days into their first week in the flat, Kili had asked to see Ori’s real self, but the muse had politely but very firmly refused. It had been the only time Ori had looked anything but cheerful and enthusiastic, and Kili had promised himself he wouldn’t be so rude again.

“Well, here we go then,” Kili whispered, putting some lube on his palm and taking himself in hand.

He glanced toward Ori once, twice, and tried to imagine what it would be like to be touched by them instead. Ori had long hands, and the tip of their fingers was often a little cold, Kili had noticed. They’d soon warm up on his cock though, and Kili’s hand moved a little faster at the thought. He imagined Ori’s lips on his then, the taste of their skin, and a spark of pleasure made them both gasp.

“This is so weird,” Kili chuckled. “Do you really feel something when I…”

“Yes. Any sort of pleasure, really. So far, what you’re doing doesn’t compare to how you felt when you were eating Nori’s pastries last week.”

They both smiled at that, And Kili”s hand tightened on the crown of his cock, remembering the way Ori had had to lick some cream from their finger that day, the way Fili…

That had Ori gasping again, a little louder, but Kili carefully shifted his thoughts away from his brother. He didn’t fully understand how incubi powers worked, and how much of his thoughts and desires the muse could see. Dwalin had said that they just reacted to lust and pleasure but couldn’t guess what had caused them, but Kili didn’t want to take any risks. Not yet, not until he could be sure that Ori wouldn’t judge him.

The hand that wasn’t on his cock slipped under his shirt to play with a nipple, pinching it just short of pain as he laid back more comfortably on his bed. He liked having them bitten, and what would that feel like, would the gap between Ori’s front teeth make it feel different? Better, it’d feel better, Kili was certain of it. His hand moved faster and he recalled happy sounds, little moans due to Nori’s baking, not all of which had been Ori’s, but Kili was soon too far gone to care anymore.

He moaned when orgasm hit him, and slumped on the bed. It took him a moment to control his breathing again, but he was pleased to see that Ori was affected too.

“That was nice, thank you,” the muse sighed happily, rising from their chair to come kiss Kili’s forehead.

“My pleasure,” Kili replied. “Literally.”

Ori laughed at that, a happy, sated laugh that had Kili smile.

“Want help cleaning up?” the muse offered.

Kili shook his head. “Another time maybe.”

It would feel too weird to have Ori help, it’d be more like something a datefriend might do… and Ori wasn’t that, just their muse. Sex was one thing because it didn’t mean more than if Kili had cooked for them ( _regular_ cooking, not the sort of cooking Nori did) but anything more intimate, and Kili knew he’d end up wanting more.

The key to everything, he’d found long ago, was to compartmentalise.

Kili was getting quite good at that, really.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys, at their first exhibition, meet someone that Ori used to know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> today was a writing day, not a working day, so here we go

It was still odd, being in a gallery, surrounded by the art they’d made, and people looking at it. It was their second night there, but Kili still made sure to stay close to Fili. He was half afraid that if he were on his own, people would ask him questions and he’d give all the wrong answers. Better let Fili do the talking, or Ori when they could spare a second for them. Their current appearance was not Kili’s favourite, nor Fili’s, and they both agreed that Ori themself didn’t seem so fond of it. Ori made themself older when they had no choice, but the second they could be young again, they did.

“This is simply beautiful!” one old man squeaked near them. “Where did you ever think of a creature like that? It looks like something straight out of a nightmare!”

The brothers exchanged a look. It was one of their collaborative works. Fili had taken the picture, after one of their hunts, and Kili had painted on it the demon they’d fought, as best as he could. It helped sometimes, to pretend the monsters weren’t real. Not all of their collaborations were like that, but these were their most liked so far. It was odd to show them around though. These were the more personals of all their things, but Ori had insisted that they were so good they had to be shown, at least at first, to show people how good they were.

“I have nightmares,” Fili said soberly. “Kili paints them.”

“Dear god, I can’t imagine the sort of trauma you must have been through to dream of that,” the man laughed, moving closer and putting one arm around Fili’s shoulder. Both brothers clenched their fists, but did not move. “Another tortured artist then? It’s overdone, really, but if it works for you…”

“They’re not tortured, Frank,” Ori said from behind the man. He was not smiling, not even a little. “Having emotions is not being tortured. Pain is not the only way to get creative, not that _you’d_ know that.”

The man stepped away from Fili.

“Oswald, I thought you were talking with…”

“I was,” Ori snapped, “and then I saw _you_ talking with my young friends. And I thought how strange it was, because you certainly were _not_ sent an invitation. I don’t know who you convinced to bring you as their plus one, but you can be sure they won’t be invited here again either. Now get out of here. I’d rather not have to call security, but we both know I will if I have to.”

The man did not insist, and Ori glared at him until they saw him walk through the door of the gallery. Kili noticed that people were looking at them all, but Ori did not seem to care, and they took the brother’s hands in theirs.

“I’m very sorry for this,” they said. “Frank is… he used to live with me and a few other people until it turned out he had a mindset that was… not great for group life. He’s never been too happy about being asked to leave, and he doesn’t understand that he’s unwanted now. It’s always been his problem, he’s never known when to stop, no matter how you ask him.”

Kili gently squeezed Ori’s hand, and he was sure Fili did the same. Kili almost wished that Frank would come back, just so they could punch him hard for making Ori and his friends suffer in any way.

“Oh, but don’t worry,” Ori said, smiling again. “Frank was one of my first, and I’m better at picking people now. If we start sharing the flat with more people, they’ll be decent, or they will get kicked out right away, I promise you that. I’m _far_ better at making sure everyone feels safe and happy now.”

“That’s good to know,” Fili agreed. “Not that we’re helpless anyway. Everyone made sure we knew pretty young how to protect ourselves. The perks of the family business, I suppose.”

He smiled, a little lopsided, and Kili patted his brother’s shoulder with his free hand.

Fili was the better fighter out of the two of them, but he’d never liked it. If not for that deal between their mother and Nori to get them out of the hunting business, Fili at least would have taken Dwalin’s place one day, and he’d have been miserable doing it. Kili would have joined him with less regrets, because he did like what they did, sometimes, liked the idea of being a hero, even a secret one… but he was glad it wouldn’t have to happen. It had become weird to hunt, since they’d met Nori. Thorin insisted that even if incubi were turning out to be slightly more decent than expected, everything else still had to be destroyed, but Kili wondered sometimes, and he knew Fili wondered a lot…

And demon hunting was not a job where you could afford to ask yourself if the thing you were fighting wasn’t actually misunderstood, because it was pretty likely to get you dead.

“You won’t have to use that,” Ori promised. “I will certainly not let things get this bad, ever. You’re my friends, both of you, and I won’t let anyone harm you. I promise you that. I’d much rather only have you around for the next fifty years than let near you anyone who might hurt you. Not that it’d be so dreadful anyway,” Ori added after a pause. “The two of you are really delicious.”

Kili felt his face heat up, and from the corner of his eye he saw Fili blushing too. That was something they had not gotten used to yet, Ori’s casualness about sex. Kili rather suspected that the muse did it on purpose. Nori wasn’t the only one who liked to tease it seemed. But before Kili could voice that thought, someone called for Ori, and they left with a slight bounce to their step.

“When I was a kid, I thought that as a grown up I’d live a scary life that’d have to do with demons,” Fili said. “I still don’t know what happened.”

“Art critics are scary enough,” Kili pointed out. “And there are at least two demons in our lives on a regular basis. Maybe you have more of the Sight than we all thought.”

Fili shrugged, staring at Ori. He did that a lot. Sometimes because he was thinking of ways to take their picture. Other times… well, Kili couldn’t blame him for looking. He did it too.

“Have you ever wanted to kiss someone you really shouldn’t want to kiss?” Fili asked.

“Story of my life that,” Kili sighed, looking at Ori, but moving closer to his brother. “You get used to it.”

“No you don’t,” Fili replied darkly, frowning for a moment. “Ah, that’s not the place to be in that mood!” he exclaimed then, smiling again. “Come on, try to look a little happier than that! We are going to be rich and famous, and we’ll get there by doing what we like best, with our beautiful muse wandering half naked in our flat to encourage us. I don’t know what we’re complaining about. I know many people who’d _love_ to be in this situation.”

“Now you sound like me,” Kili teased.

“Too much time spent in bad company,” Fili retorted. “We’re rubbing off on each other, like an old couple. Another couple years and we’ll be using each other’s toothbrush.”

Kili grimaced at the thought, and Fili laughed. It caught Ori’s attention, who smiled at them and motioned for the boys to join them.

“I’ve got people to introduce you too, so stop hiding and laughing in a corner! This, here, is Angie, she used to live with me, but she owns a gallery now… And this is Valentino, he used to write for Art News, but he has his own magazine now and… Oh, Anya, so glad you could come! This is Fili and Kili, the stars of the day! Have you seen their pictures of forests? Oh, you must. Come boys, let’s show Anya what you can do!”

Fili and Kili followed, half amused and half embarrassed by the way Ori was showing them off to everyone present. It felt like when they were kids and their mother would put their pictures in the fridge, except the fridge was a classy gallery, and the role of their mother was played by a far too attractive little muse.

Fili was right, they didn’t have much to complain about.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ori and Fili tend to laugh a lot together, until the day Ori goes too far

Sex was a funny thing, Ori had decided long ago. Some people did it the exact way you'd expect, and other were very different from what you would have imagined.

For example, Kili, who couldn't stay serious for more than five minutes, was almost business-like when they did their little sessions. He sat on his bed, removed his trousers, did his business quickly with a minimum of chitchat, and only when he was done did he start really joking in earnest again. Ori could feel him holding back a lot of things, energies that Kili controlled far more closely during these moments than he did the rest of the time. Some he even managed to shut down almost entirely, like the smooth softness and hot sparks what the muse had learned to identify as his affection for Ori and Fili. The day he let go of that control, Kili's lust would be like a dam breaking and submerging everything; Ori wanted and feared that day in turn.

By contrast, Fili seemed to think their little sessions were the funniest thing ever. The first time, Ori had offered to turn into anyone Fili wanted, as they usually did, and the answer had not been the one they'd expected.

“Surprise me,” Fili had asked.

“Careful, I might be tempted to change several time while you masturbate, just to see what gets a reaction.”

Fili had laughed.

“Well, do that then. It should be interesting. Let's see if you can figure out what my type is, eh?”

That had been the start of a game for them, one they kept playing every time. At first, Ori had turned into a few celebrities, or people they'd met while together that Fili had found attractive. Sometimes it did nothing, and Ori had to change again, and sometimes it worked, and Fili's lust burned hotter, smooth and soft and delicious.

But Ori's favourite thing was when it didn't work at all and Fili just started laughing.

“Chuck Norris, _really_?”

“I don't judge.”

“ _Liar_. You judge people all the time. Anyone who likes the Preraphaelites is dead in your eyes.”

Ori started a lengthy explanation of everything the group of English painters had failed to do. Fili laughed, and it took them a moment to remember that this wasn't what they were supposed to do. They could not finish what they'd started though, not that day. All Fili had to was whisper “But Rossetti did some decent pieces too” and Ori was back to arguing while Fili laughed.

 

After a few sessions, Ori started having a clear idea of what Fili liked to see.

Dark hair was a clear favourite. Black was good, but dark brown and red were appreciated too. Smiles were important too. Fili was very sensitive to a nice, warm smile, and even a plain face could get a reaction of him if it had a wide smile. He also liked to feel that the person was taller than him, but if Ori tried to be too tall, it just made him laugh. Same thing if they put on too much muscle: Fili would giggle and say he had no interest in dating a wrestler or Mister Universe. In someone female presenting, Fili seemed to prefer smaller breasts (although he was not opposed to bigger ones if they were on someone who was curvy anyway) and in someone male presenting, he was not against a little stubble, and liked it better if body hair was present.

Ori took note of all that, added it to a few other things he'd noticed, and kept their conclusion to themself. They'd learned through trial and error that telling people who they really wanted was usually badly accepted, even in case of a mutual feeling.

They would let the boys figure that out themselves, unless they asked for their help.

 

They'd been living together for about six months when Ori made a mistake during on of their sessions with Fili.

It had not been one of their best ones. Fili was in a strange mood, and looks that would normally have had an effect on him either left him indifferent or made him snigger. He was still getting off, Ori could feel it, but his orgasm was going to be less powerful than usual, and that just wouldn't do. They might call themself a muse and not use all the tricks, they were still an incubus and there was a matter of _pride_ in making sure people felt a certain amount of pleasure in an encounter.

Ori tried all of Fili's favourite faces and bodies, and a few new ones, but all it got them was a sneer.

“Aren't you trying a little too hard here?” Fili teased. “Ah... don't worry, everyone has bad days. Even muses can't be inspired _all_ the time.”

He smirked then, getting closer to his end, and Ori frowned. They hadn't help at all this time, and it was frustrating, and with Fili laughing at them, it was just too much.

Ori changed their appearance one last time. They were taller now, with dark, unruly hair and a smile that could outshine the sun.

Fili gasped, lust intensifying and rushing him through his orgasm as he let out a whine that might have been a name.

They did not say anything for a while. Fili was trying to catch his breath again, as was Ori. The intensity of Fili's energy had been more than they would have expected, and it had hit them hard, so quickly that they had not even had thought to try Dori's energy saving trick. Ori wasn't sure they wanted to keep that one anyway. It had been liked cheating in their little game, and if Fili decided to put an end to everything, it would be Ori's own fault.

“I'm sorry,” the muse whispered when they had calmed down enough, shifting back to his preferred form.

“Just don't tell him,” Fili breathlessly replied. “I'm... I don't want him to know. I need him too much, I can't lose him.”

Instead of the pleasant and warm roundness of afterglow, there was the icy sharpness of guilt and shame coming all over Fili. It stabbed through Ori's hand, forcing him to let go of his knee. This was nothing like his guilt of not taking over the family business, it was something older, so cold it was almost burning.

Ori had promised themself they would not get involved in what was going on with the brothers, but the damage was done now. Nothing they had to say could hurt Fili more, and his present pain was just too much to be ignored.

“What if... what if Kili...”

“I know,” Fili cut him. “And I don't want to know.”

“What _do_ you know?”

Fili's energy shifted, still sharp and icy, but with here and there the little sparks of his love for Kili.

“I know that he doesn't know about me,” Fili sighed. “And he'd never take the risk, so I have to protect him. It's my job. Always was my job. I have to protect him. Dwalin and your brother were hard enough on the family, I can't do that to mom. She'd never forgive me.”

Ori nodded, even if they didn't understand. This was between consenting adults, people who very obviously loved and desired each other. Dori, Nori and them did not do that due to too different tastes, but they knew some incubi shared lovers and energy between siblings, because it could be easier that way. As long as everyone wanted it, and that it was pleasant for everyone, why did the details matter?

But that was not what Fili needed to hear, not with the icy shards of guilt stabbing at him.

“I won't tell him,” Ori promised. “I promise that I will not tell Kili about your love for him, so I am bound.”

It worked, a little. Fili's energies warmed up a little, and along with the hot sparks of his love for Kili there was the silky softness of his affection for Ori. The muse could touch Fili again, pulling him into a hug that help rid him of some more of his cold guilt. They'd take it easy for the rest of the day, order some takeaway and watch whatever dreadful film Fili would chose (Ori might even allow for Avatar this time, but only as an exceptional measure) while the three of them cuddled on the couch. Anything it would take to make Fili start to forgive Ori for what they'd done to him, and to help him feel better.

And then, Ori would have to figure out how if they should help the brothers with this part of their relationship. After all the muse had only promised not to _tell_ ; that left _many_ other ways to communicate, if it became necessary for the boys' well-being.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a chapter brought to you because I was wondering what I'd do if I could change appearances a any moment, and the answer turned out to be: change my looks at the worst possible moment to make people laugh  
> and then, because I'm me, it turned angsty


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fili and his first camera

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Ruairi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruairi/pseuds/Ruairi)suggested it'd be interesting to see how the boys got into their respective passions, so here we go, have Fili's story :)

It was an old camera, entirely unliked the disposable ones that had formed the entirety of Fili’s experience with cameras so far. It had been hidden in the basement of one of the safe houses they had, and Fili knew why when he saw the name carved on the side of it: Frerin.

Fili _knew_ about Frerin. Mostly he knew that he wasn’t supposed to know about him. His name was only mentioned when Kili and him had gone to bed, very late at night when the grown-ups were nostalgic. Frerin had died before Fili’s birth (or shortly after it, he’d never found the exact date), and he’d been the middle brother to Dis and Thorin, and Dwalin’s best friend. Until Fili found the camera, that was all he knew.

There were a few pictures left to take on the film, and since Fili was fourteen, bored, and skipping school because he couldn’t stand how _useless_ it felt considering the future planned for him, he decided to take these pictures. It was pretty random, just anything that caught his fancy in the house. A funny looking lamp. The creepy stairs to the basement that seemed to disappear into nothingness when you stood on top of it with the lights off. Fili’s own reflection in a dusty mirror. The collection of notebooks are grimoires on a shelf, most of which were far older than Fili.

It was early afternoon by the time Fili was done, too early to go home yet if he didn’t want to be discovered (he knew he would be eventually, but with some luck, he could escape fights for another day or two). Since he had nothing better to do, Fili grabbed some money in one of the hidden place within the house, and went to have the picture developed. There was a place for that in the mall. While he waited, he went to have ice-cream and look at normal people living their normal lives, and who thought that the worst thing that could happen to them was a car accident or a fire. It must have been nice. Fili dreamed of that sort of normal life sometimes, but someone in the family had to take up hunting once uncle Dwalin would be too old, and he’d rather do it that have Kili try his luck…

He was the eldest, it was his job to protect Kili. And maybe he could protect little Gimli too, make sure he wouldn’t have to do the job either. No one should have had to do the job, or at least not like that. Not just because it ran in the family.

When Fili had finished his second ice cream, it was time to pick up the photos.

 

Frerin’s ones made for a little more than half of them. They’d been taken at someone’s birthday, judging by the huge cake, and the birthday boy must have been Dwalin, because he was in almost every single picture… and he looked so happy, smiling so widely, especially when he was looking right at the camera. His happiest face was in one picture that someone else must have taken, where he had a blond boy who did and didn’t look like Fili: Dwalin simply radiated joy on that one.

Dwalin was kind, and sometimes he spoiled Fili and Kili rotten with things he’d picked up while hunting, but he was never happy like that. It was almost like looking at someone else, a relative of his uncle. Fili wondered briefly if he would be so different too, after a few decades of hunting, but then he pushed away the thought because there was a picture of his mother and she looked so young and foolish and she had the exact same smile as Kili as she held a piece of cake away from Thorin.

Thorin who hadn’t changed so much, already grumpy in his youth, but it looked like a warmer grumpiness. There was even the faintest hint of a smile at the corner of his lips as he reached for the cake.

There were other faces too, people Fili had never known. Here was his grandfather, who’d died when he was much younger, and that tough looking woman who had his nose must have been his grand-mother. This other one might have been a great-aunt, and since she was holding in her arms someone who looked a lot like Gimli, she must have been Gloin’s mother. Others Fili couldn’t place, but they _had_ to be hunters, because the family never had friends who didn’t hunt. That one might have been a much younger Gandalf, but without the beard, it was hard to be sure.

Fili stayed far too long looking at the pictures. They didn’t have many photos back at home, nothing but baby pictures of Kili and him with nothing from before their birth. He’d wondered about that sometimes, but if Frerin had been the one to take them, it explained things. It would have been hard looking at any picture without thinking of him, even if he wasn’t in a single one of them. And it’d mean Fili would have to hide these pictures and the camera, he decided. He didn’t want to bring up painful memories, and more importantly he didn’t want to have them confiscated. His own pictures had turned out looking somewhat nice. There was a photography club in his school, and during their exhibition they’d shown some things that didn’t look half as good as what he’d done. Maybe he could join the club and learn…

Fili chuckled joylessly as he put the pictures and the camera in his bag. Yeah, sure, join a club. As if he had time for that, between training with Thorin and babysitting Kili when Dis had to stay at work later. Clubs were something for normal kids with normal families, not for people who knew already knew how to kill several sort of minor demons and were learning to perform exorcism, “just in case”.

He probably wasn’t even supposed to want to be normal. The kids in his class loved stories about people their age doing exactly what Fili did, and it made them heroes.

Heroes weren’t supposed to want to drop everything to take pictures of empty houses in a nice light.

Well, Fili had never really wanted to be a hero anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for anyone who has not read Thorinsmut's original fic (which you should seriously do as it is MUCH BETTER than this one) Dwalin and Frerin were a couple until Frerin's death


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili's story

What Kili liked best about books were the pictures. The words could be traitorous, and he could only read the easiest of them (his mother and Fili promised that it would get better with time, but Kili still didn’t like long words) but pictures were amazing. Words just told you that the princess was beautiful and the prince was strong and the monster was scary, but pictures showed you. The princess was very pale with very blond straight hair (she’d be prettier looking like Alisha on whom Kili didn’t have a crush at all, or Miss Fukui who had been his teacher the year before, but Kili could see the appeal anyway). The prince had some muscle and a very big sword and sometimes he had an armor, and that was the most awesomest thing of them all. And then the monster was big, enormous, with scales and warts and big, big teeth and great bat wings and it breathed fired and looked like it would eat the princess, and Kili shivered in fear and delight every time.

Some years later, he would learn not only that monsters were real, but also that the most dangerous ones were more likely to look like the prince or the princess.

 

Kili had nightmares about monsters in his closet. He wasn’t the only one. Everyone knew about stories of a monster in the closet, and some people laughed about it, but Kili noticed the ones who didn’t laugh, and knew he’d found people who _knew_. He talked to them sometimes, and learned that their parents let them sleep in their bed or things like that.

His mother had done it too, but first she’d performed a banishing ritual, and just in case, she’d taught him how to defend himself with a small iron knife she gave him. She’d also asked Fili if he’d ever heard anything, or seen anything, and then asked Kili if he could tell her what the monster looked like.

“I’ve made a drawing,” Kili replied instead. “Here look! It’s got big horns and big teeth and it’s all blue!”

“I see… can I borrow it to show it to uncle Thorin?”

“He’ll give it back after, right?”

Once, Kili had lent his very best red pencil to his uncle, who had never given it back. He’d never forgotten, and he’d never forgiven.

“I’ll stay with him the whole time,” Dis promised, because she knew about the pencil.

Kili gave the drawing. A few days later, Dis returned it, saying that according to Thorin, it was not a monster that could do him any real harm.

“But if the monster ever changes, draw it and show it to your uncle. Promise?”

Kili nodded.

He drew more monsters over the years. Some were from nightmares, but others were from his own imagination, or films he’d seen, or that book he’d stolen from Fili’s room one day. He stopped showing them to Thorin though. Not because he was no longer afraid, but because his family was teaching him to recognise real monsters without their help.

 

Fili had found a camera, and he was good with it. Kili asked to borrow it a few times, but in vain.

“You’ll break it,” his brother grumbled. “Or worse, you’ll let mom see it.”

“Why can’t she see it?”

Fili had hesitated, and then he’d grabbed a box under his bed. Inside of it were a few magazines about girls who didn’t wear clothes, and under that, a thick envelope containing a few pictures of people with weird clothes and weird hair.

“That’s mom!” Kili exclaimed, pointing at one picture. “And that’s uncle! And he doesn’t even look angry!”

“And look at Dwalin when he still had hair!” Fili laughed, pushing another pictures toward his brother. “And this one, look how he’s smiling!”

“Who’s the boy with him? He looks nice. He sorta looks like you!”

“No, he doesn’t, not really,” Fili retorted, serious now. “I think it’s Frerin. You know…”

Kili nodded. He knew.

“That’s why I can’t let you have the camera,” Fili explained. “It’s his. Was his. I found it at a safe house, and I don’t want mom to know I have it, and… I can’t buy another one now because they’ve cut my allowance just because I skipped school, so I can’t risk anything happening to this one. Okay? It’s like… Like if you were afraid people would try to take your pencils and papers from you.”

“I draw on notebooks with pens, like I already do in class,” Kili replied with a shrug. It got him a glare, so he sighed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Okay, keep it then, and I won’t tell on you. But can I have the pictures a little? Please?”

“If you get a single scratch on them, I’ll make you do my chore until you’re legally old enough to say no.”

Kili promised to be careful, and ran to his room with the envelope. He closed the door behind him, locking it in case his mother decided to come check on the homeworks he had no intention of doing, even if he did sat at his deck. He took some paper, some pencils, and got to work.

After years of drawing almost exclusively monsters, it was hard to try his hand at people. Kili threw away his first few attempts, and that night gave back the pictures to Fili, certain that he would never get it right.

But stubbornness ran in the family. Kili tried again and again, copying people from magazines and illustrations from his favourite books and panels from his favourite comics. When his birthday came, he asked for books about drawing. He worked and worked on that, ignoring homeworks and lessons, focussing only on getting things right. He was distracted at school by his doodles, and he couldn’t pay attention with Thorin because he was thinking about what he’d draw next, everything a training for when he’d be good enough to reproduce these pictures of his family when they were still happy.

Dis threatened to take away his sketchbooks if he didn’t pay more attention to things he was supposed to be learning. She even did it for a little while, but gave them back when one teacher complained that one of Kili’s notebook was full of doodles.

“You can’t keep doing that,” she told him that night as she cooked dinner. “Kili, it’s good to have a passion, but this is going too far. You need to have good grades in school.”

“What, or I won’t get into the demon hunter college?”

“Or into regular college, Kili. I’m working on convincing everyone to let Fili do it, you can bet I’ll fight again when your turn comes. But if you want to learn about something beside hunting, you need to have decent grades, and that means you have to stop doodling all the time and to start paying attention a little. Now, we could make a deal. If you promise to study hard, I’ll let you…”

“I want to take classes,” Kili cut her. “On drawing. I want to have a real teacher to tell me how to do things, not just shitty books and the old crazy art teacher in school.”

Dis didn’t answer right away, and for a moment the only sound in the kitchen was that of carrots being chopped. Kili knew she would refuse. They never were allowed clubs or anything. Fili had mentioned once the photography club, and then everyone had said it was pointless since he had no camera, and he’d never talked about it again. They hadn’t been allowed to do boxing or judo or any other sports either, because Thorin felt they’d be too strong for other kids and it might attract attention.

“That will cost money, Kili,” Dis eventually said. “And if I allow you a club of any sort, then I will have to let Fili pick something too, or it’s not fair. So if I agree to this, I’m going to need more than a promise to work. It will mean I want you to be on the top half of your class from now on, in the top five even in subject that I know you’re good at. I will be checking with your teachers. And if you can’t hold your end of the bargain, then it’s all over. Do we have a deal?”

Kili thought about it for a moment. It was going to be hard work, and not a lot of fun.

But to have a real art teacher…

“Yeah, we have a deal.”

“Then go get some paper, dear. We are going to do this properly, with a contract between us, just in case you ever forget what your promised.”

 

To celebrate getting into his high school’s photography club, Fili gifted his brother some watercolour. Not the cheap and ugly sort for little kids, but nice, real one that was easy to carry around.

Kili started messing around with it, although the teacher of that class he went to promised he’d give him some real tips once he had pencil drawings really figured out.

 

His first graphic tablet was a present for his graduation from high school, and for being accepted into a design college with a grant.

Love at first sight, Fili teased him later.

 

“It’s not like you to just copy a picture,” Ori said from right behind Kili, making him jump. “Is it one of Fili’s?”

“It’s a personal project,” Kili retorted. “Don’t look yet.”

Ori nodded, and though he was clearly curious, he left. He came back a little later, holding the best coffee anyone could have at 3 am, but didn’t look again at Kili’s work.

It was not just a copy, as the muse would discover later, even if Kili had indeed started with a perfect reproduction of that photograph of Dwalin and Frerin hugging and smiling. But around them, he added other people. Here there was Dis, and the man who’d given her children, with Thorin next to them, all of them smiling. And there was the rest of the family too, the one who’d died, the one who still lived, the ones who disappeared. It ended up being a huge thing, and Kili’s computer almost crashed a few times, but it was worth it.

The time of a picture their entire family was together again, and happy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ori is grumpy

For all that Ori was a muse, they had problems with inspiration sometimes, just like everyone else. Fili always felt sorry for them when it happened, because it was so obviously painful to them. Ori would mope around, staring enviously at whatever Fili and Kili were working on at the moment, or browsing magazines and books in a desperate search for inspiration.

Fili knew things were getting bad when Ori managed to _finish_ his coffees. And bad was not an exaggeration. The muse made too much coffee, inspired or not, but they only _drank_ these fifteen cups if they could find nothing else to do. Otherwise, it was left to cool down on various surfaces of the flat until someone put them away.

Ori was at cup twelve that Sunday when Fili stepped in.

“You are starting to sound and look like my uncle,” he explained, pushing Ori toward the couch. “Another two cups, and you’ll start looking like Dwalin before he met Nori. Which could be very scary, so I’d rather not have to deal with that again, thanks.”

“And what do you propose to do?” Ori grumbled. “If you have any brilliant idea to give me, please do, because I’m pretty desperate.”

Fili moved behind the couch, and put his hands on the muse’s bare shoulders, pressing his thumbs lightly into the tight muscles.

“I’m going to help you relax,” he said. “Can’t make good art when you’re too tense, you’re the one always saying that. So we’re going to get you all nice and relaxed. I’ve been praised for my great massages, if you must know. Kili fell asleep once.”

Ori laughed, already relaxing, and Fili increased the pressure, moving his hands slowly. He’d always loved doing that, helping people feel better. Dis said he cheated and used what little Sight he had to see the knots and points of disturbed energy that might have gone unnoticed, but she was just jealous because she’d never managed that particular trick. Then again, she didn’t have much to be jealous, because that was about all that Fili could do with his Sight. That, and noticing demons, if he was careful enough.

“If your pictures ever stop selling, you should do that instead,” Ori sighed happily. “Oh, right there… But I’ll be even more careful about your career now. Can’t let someone with hands like that escape. Oh! Oh… even Nori doesn’t do it half as well, let me tell you.”

“Flatterer.”

“Indeed. I’ll say anything to make sure you don’t stop. Great Mother of All, you really are wonderful at this.”

Fili grinned proudly. All of his exes and several family members had said the same, but being praised by an incubus felt like the ultimate level of approval. He chuckled when he undid a particularly tight knot and Ori moaned shamelessly, all but melting under his hands. It was probably what Fili liked best about massages, the way people opened up and stopped caring about anything but the way the pleasure. Just as good as sex, he liked to think, and he could do it with a lot more people.

People like Ori, obviously. Or Kili.

It was the nice thing about massages, they were a safe, intimate but non-sexual form of pleasurable affection. One thing at least which Fili could do and think of without guilt.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to move for the next step,” he told Ori. “Lie on your stomach, and I’ll straddle you to take care of the last few knots down your spine.”

“You sound like you’re pretty used to saying that,” Ori noted as they complied.

“You’re being treated to my best massage here, I’ll let you know,” Fili retorted, positioning himself above Ori’s hips. “Not something I give to just everyone. Used to do it for Kili when he was dealing with exam stress.”

“If you tell me you never used that to get laid, I won’t believe you.”

Fili laughed. “Dang, you’ve discovered my secret weapon!” He whined, and felt Ori chuckle under him. “Never known a single guy who could resist it. I’m not the smartest man around, nor the prettiest or strongest or anything, but I give some damn good massages and that did get me a few blowjobs. Not that I’m expecting anything!” he hastily added. “I’m just trying to make you feel good so that you stop looking like you might murder us in our sleep.”

“I know you’re just being nice, don’t worry,” Ori assured him, chuckling again. “But that bad, uh?”

“Kili said this morning that you were getting scary enough he was thinking of painting you.”

“Oh dear. Thank you for coming to the rescue then, it’s very… oh!”

Ori moaned, almost whined as Fili worked through the last knot, and then they fell entirely limp. The sign of a job well done, Fili decided. What was needed now was some nice tea, possibly herbal tea to make sure Ori did not get worked up again, and some of these biscuits the brothers had stolen from Dwalin, the very nice ones with white chocolate and raspberry. Kili would soon be back from grocery shopping anyway (the best excuse he’d found to escape) and he’d be happy to have something sweet to nibble on. And then, they’d have to see if it wasn’t time one of them had a little session with Ori. Fili’s last one had been a while ago, and Ori had not really dared to ask him much since the whole turning-into-Kili fiasco, and they didn’t seem to have increased their sessions with Kili...

For all that they constantly made sure that the brothers ate and drank regularly, Ori sometimes seemed to forget that they needed it too.

Well, Fili would just have to start being careful about that then. If he could make sure Kili eat veggies at least twice a week, he could certainly take care of Ori too.


End file.
